This kid.

As utterly adorable as she is, at the moment she is either unbelievably well behaved – or unbelievably naughty. And it can change in an instant.

This morning she got her shoes out of her closet and then announced that she was going to ‘tidy them all up’ as she has a tendency to just throw them in and I have given up asking. So she proudly calls me in five minutes later and they are all lined up like little soldiers.

Ten minutes later I dared to ask if she had brushed her teeth. I got a surly response {something I hadn’t envisaged getting for a number of years to come!} then she yelled at me that she’d heard me when I asked her but she just wasn’t doing it. No, never ever.

I am not a fan of no, never ever and it seems to have become a rather standard response to things.

I’ve tried almost every response in my mumma bag of tricks when things go haywire, but just as I never know when Jeckyll is going to turn into Hyde, I am equally as unsure which of my responses will help manage the emotions.

I understand that everyone is tired by this time of the year. We haven’t had a proper break from the routine of daily life for way too long. There’s a lot of change going on with Big School approaching. And kids generally go through a growth/change a couple of months prior to their next birthday.

But seriously, I’d really really like a day without a battle.

Dear Santa …